The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to grant royalty relief to promote increased oil and gas production (43 U.S.C. 1337). MMS offers royalty relief at certain times and to certain leases to promote development or increased production, or to encourage production of marginal resources on both producing and non-producing leases. The Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995 (DWRRA) expanded the Secretary's royalty relief authority in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) outer continental shelf, and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 expanded that authority offshore Alaska.

One of the responsibilities of the Economics Division is to design categorical royalty relief programs, and to assist with evaluations of case-by-case applications for royalty relief. Royalty relief programs are classified under the following general categories:
 

	GOM Deep Water Royalty Relief
	GOM Shallow Water Deep Gas Royalty Relief
	Alaska Royalty Relief
	End of Life Royalty Relief (under development)
	Special Case Royalty Relief (under development)
	Royalty Relief Application History (under development)